What truly lies behind a cup of coffee?
It’s more than just aroma. More than just pleasure. Behind every bean, there are faces, hands, stories.
Coffee is an agricultural product, cultivated with effort and devotion by real people. Yet too often, we forget its origins: the land, and those who work it.
On our most recent journey to Brazil, among the rolling hills of the country’s finest specialty coffee farms, we met extraordinary women—producers, scientists, entrepreneurs. Women who grow excellence each day, who carry ancestral knowledge in a delicate balance between innovation and tradition.
In this article, we take you with us through Minas Gerais and Espírito Santo: through hand-picking harvests, experimental fermentations and exceptional cuppings—but above all, through encounters with people.
You’ll discover:
- What truly makes a high-quality Brazilian coffee special
- How women coffee producers in Brazil work and thrive
- The real challenges of ethical coffee today: climate, market, sustainability
- Why choosing good coffee isn’t just a matter of taste—but of awareness
Stop 1 – Ibiraci, Alta Mogiana
Lais from Cocapil Specialty Coffee
We began in Ibiraci, in the heart of Alta Mogiana, welcomed by Lais, co-owner of the Cocapil Specialty Coffee cooperative and the Nossa Senhora das Graças farm.
Here, we found a living example of how coffee can be more than agriculture—it can be innovation, empowerment, and cultural revolution.
Lais took over her family business and transformed it into a centre of excellence, where cutting-edge fermentations meet rural wisdom.
More importantly, she created a space where women don’t just take part—they lead.
“Women no longer have to stay behind the scenes,” she told us. “We now know we can be centre stage.”
That day, we tasted extraordinary coffees—but more than anything, we tasted the power of a change led by women.
Lais is a leader, a mother, a visionary. And every bean she grows tells the story of her daily fight—for freedom, and for quality.
Stop 2 – Boa Esperança, Espírito Santo
Luiza, the Plant Nutritionist
We then travelled to the mountains of Espírito Santo, where Luiza Oliveira—founder of the Tapera do Baú brand—welcomed us.
Sitting between the rows of coffee trees, beside a small fire, with local cheese grilling and a glass of Brazilian wine in hand, we felt instantly at home. And yet, we were in the midst of a lesson in agronomy, science, and deep-rooted love for the land.
Luiza is not “just” a producer: she is an agronomist, consultant, and researcher. She holds a PhD in coffee plant nutrition. In her hands, the plant becomes a living organism to balance, nurture, and help flourish.
She treats her fields like a body: every macro and micro nutrient, every component of the soil is analysed and fine-tuned to reveal complexity in the cup—and keep her trees healthy.
During the harvest, surrounded by baskets and skilled hands selecting ripe cherries, she told us how science, for her, is a way to protect and honour the earth.
“Thank you for sharing ideas and values,” she said at the end.
And we say: thank you, Luiza—for showing us that excellence is born from knowledge, passion, and a deep connection to nature.
Stop 3 – Ingaí, Minas Gerais
Maria Helena, the Green Heart of Brazil
In the hills of Ingaí, Minas Gerais, we met Maria Helena Brunelli—a woman who has turned coffee into her life’s love story.
Her farm, named after her late husband, is a hymn to memory and devotion.
At 70 years old, Maria Helena is a roaster, farmer, and passionate educator. She showed us her plants as one shows their children: with pride, tenderness, and care.
Every tree is tended with precise gestures. Every harvest is hand-picked. Every fermentation calibrated by intuition and experience.
“My plants are my past, my present, and my legacy,” she told us.
And you can taste it—in the sweetness of her coffee, in its complexity, in her unwavering respect for every stage of production.
We ended the day on a hillside, sharing a sunset picnic that left us breathless.
A moment of silence, gratitude—and beauty.
Stop 4 – Oliveira, Campo das Vertentes
Thais, the Unfiltered Voice of Reality
Sometimes, the beauty of coffee meets the harshness of the market. We saw this clearly with Thais Pimentel, on her Fazenda da Divisa.
A woman who deeply loves her craft, but who does not hide the struggle to keep it alive.
With Thais, we walked among the coffee trees, saw both mechanical and manual harvesting, and spoke with field workers and local women. She shared—honestly—what it means to be a specialty coffee producer in Brazil today: rising costs, a lack of labour, climate change threatening each new season.
“Every day I’m torn between the romance of this job… and the brutality of the market.”
Her words stayed with us. Because they reveal the courage it takes to hold on, to keep going, to believe in quality no matter what.
Her farm is a space suspended between dream and determination.
An anthem to resilience.
Stop 5 – Varginha, Sul de Minas
Donna Zezinha, Between Music and Fermentation
Our journey ended with a producer unlike any other: Donna Zezinha.
A force of elegance, creativity and resolve.
Together with her husband, she built a reality that merges coffee production, hospitality, and gastronomy.
Their coffees are among the most highly awarded in the region—scoring even above 90 points.
But what struck us most was her unique method.
The cherries are fermented in customised containers, at controlled temperature and humidity—while Reiki music plays in the background.
“Coffee feels the energy around it,” she told us.
A poetic phrase, perhaps—but one that carries a deeper truth: every gesture, every atmosphere, every emotion leaves a trace in the bean.
And Zezinha wants that trace to be harmony.
Still, difficulties persist here too: shifting climates, declining yields, growing concerns.
“We’re on our knees, but I won’t give up,” she said. “Because if I give up, coffee loses me. And I lose it.”
Those were the final words of our journey.
From the voice of a woman who will not surrender.
Who believes in beauty, in science, in human strength.
And who showed us that yes—coffee truly is so much more than a beverage.
A Special Thank You
This journey would not have been possible without the invaluable support of Arara Coffees, our Brazilian partners along every step of the supply chain.
With expertise, empathy, and passion, they opened the doors to extraordinary landscapes and introduced us to unforgettable people.
They shared with us not just roads and plantations—but dreams, visions, and a profound love for Brazilian coffee.
Thank you for making every stop genuine, every meeting human, and every experience unforgettable.
Brazil’s coffee lands now live in our hearts. And much of that is thanks to you.
What Remains, After All This?
Awareness.
That coffee is culture, connection, a conscious choice. That every cup can tell a story—or remain silent.
That behind each bean there are faces, names, hands, and sacrifice. And we can no longer pretend not to see them.
To choose good coffee—truly good coffee—is to choose ethics.
To say no to a system that rewards only volume and exploitation.
To say yes to value, to fairness, to excellence.
Thank you to Lais, Luiza, Maria Helena, Thais and Donna Zezinha for opening your lives to us.
And thank you, dear reader, if you choose to listen to their voices—one cup at a time.
Because every sip can be an act of love.
For the land.
For women.
For the future.
Marketing, E-commerce e Social Media Manager
Coffee Lover
